I am 81 years old. I have a basement full of planes and motors. I have been in the hobby since I was around 7 years old. I was around during the ignition era before the glow plug came out. I started building and flying control line when I was 10. I started flying R/C competition aerobatics in 1970 and flew that until 94. Then I began flying Old TIme control line stunt, and some old free flights with a radio. I have a nice collection of old spark engines from the 40's. Ohlssons, Super Cyclones, Atwood Super Champions, Anderson Spitfires, Forsters, and an Orwick 64. It was this hobby that gave me the desire to learn how things work and stick to it until they did. It helped me greatly in my job as a trouble shooter for a petroleum pipeline. It kept us busy as kids to keep us out of trouble. We layed in bed at night dreaming about the things we were going to build or fly the next day. We sat in school reading model magazines instead of doing our assignments. Much of our time was just staring out the window dreaming about our next model. We did not mind if it took a couple of months to build a model. It was part of the journey to the flying. Well, enough of my rambling. Oh, and motorcycles have been another hobby. Rode a friends Whizzer Pacemaker motor bike when I was 8. Bought my first Harley in 1955 when I was 14. A 1942 "45" flat head. I still ride some on my 99 Harley Softail Custom. Thanks for the video that brought back so many memories. We are the most blessed generation.
I was born in 76(bicentennial baby). I feel like I was at the tail end of the hobby era. I remember going to multiple hobby shops where we lived and every one was run by an old man who seemed very happy to see a young person in the shop. All those places are now long gone. There are a couple hobby shops still around, but they are huge by comparison and they sell a little bit of everything to stay open. In my youth I built mostly mostly model airplanes (plastic and rubber powered stick n tissue). I made many rubber powered airplanes of my own designs (most of which I still have and do fly with my kids on occasion). I also built a fair number of model rockets. We had a rocket and glider club in middle school. I also had a sweet RC car (Kyosho Javelin). It was a kit that you had to build. I learned a lot from building, maintaining, and upgrading that car. I still have it, and it was re-released for production so you can still buy a new one! All that hobby stuff occured in parallel with my tinkering. I always liked large trash day when you could put big junk out for the garbage men to collect. I would always head out with my wagon and a few tools and come home with one or more whole appliances to take apart, and all the interesting bits I could remove with the tools. I still have a bag full of vacuum tubes I collected from things back then. You can learn a lot by taking things apart to see how they work! I started tinkering with bicycles, then go-carts, then dirtbikes, then a dunebuggy, then a musclecar. Sadly I never progressed to an airplane and spaceship! 🤔
Me and my brothers did slot cars and u-control airplanes. I still built and flew them when I joined the Navy. I remember at NAS Millington, Tn building an F-7F Tigercat with two Cox .049s I got off crashed airplanes the other guys threw away! Got me a picture in the base paper. Good times.
John, you brought back so many memories of going into the hobby shop, particularly with dad after your birthday with money that granny plus aunts / uncles had sent. You would know exactly what you wanted and you felt like a millionaire. Thank you for transporting me back 50 years and a time when you did not get your first pair of long trousers until you went to Senior School, summers were always better and things seemed a lot more innocent.
My brother and I both had Corvettes his was black mine was red. Got mine going in a circle on our small patio it was going so fast you could not see it. 1970 fun times, no cell phones or computers and I could walk down the street with my pellet/BB gun no problems 😊
I remember me and my buddies had the cars and planes we would race. I had the airplanes. Received many cuts on fingers starting the planes up. Man those were some good times. Thanks SC, I forgot all about the tether models.
Really simpler times. I was finishing high-school. I was interested in Märklin HO model trains and always tweaking my bicycle. Good trip to memory lane. Thanks.
Good time back in those days. I still have my slot car and controller. We would put spearmint oil on our tires to make them tacky. I did the air plane , of coarse with string and end up dizzy 🥴. Skate boards made from a old roller skate. Yes it was good times. Thanks John for the memory’s
My favorite hobby was building any type of plastic models, from cars to planes, ships, motorcycles. Then to movie monsters like Frankenstein, the Werewolf, the mummy, and Dracula. Then I shifted my attention to model rocketry. I built all manner of Estes kits. At that time no solid fuel engines were available in hobby shops in Pennsylvania. You had to send to Colorado for them. Also big in my area was 1:24 slot cars. There were four or five commercial tracks in the area. Depending how much money you had they offered several tracks. The less expensive per half hour were just ovals. The more expensive were 35° banks, underpasses, and long straight aways. They also offered a two lane dragstrip, with lights and timers. I got so involved that I would rewind the motors to increase their speed. The wire was as thin as a hair, and you had to be careful to wind the wire the exact number of turns around each pole of the armature. I never got into model railroading. That can get expensive. When I got tired of the plastic cars they were soaked in charcoal lighter fluid, and rolled down a long hill with a lit firecracker on board. In the collectors world the cardboard boxes with the color graphics are worth a ton. Who knew?
The first part of the video i can totally relate, all i did in school was daydream about my hobbies and what i wanted to do next. Honestly, the tinkering hobby is way more educational than school will ever be. I mean not many kids were good at solving normal school problems, but give them some frames and wheels and you'll be surprised by the engineering they come up with.
Great video, thank you! Growing up we had several Cox tether planes and I loved them! But times were changing and RC was getting really big. I had Star Trek verti-bird and had hours of fun with that. But honestly there were two toys that I really cherished.....one was my Aurora/AFX slot cars and track, the other was the Evel Knievel stunt cycle. Great memories! Thanks again!
I was 10 Christmas of 1971 when my older brother got a Cox Dune Buggy for Christmas. My dad the biggest kid of us all (there were 6 kids at that point) fired it up in the family room and we jammed our fingers in our ears grinning while he threw it out the back door to bounce through the snow in the backyard. Dad had the biggest grin of all--mom not so much. She was not amused that the family room smelled like hot castor oil! That was one of many Cox cars and planes to pass through the house. Later we had the Vega or Pinto funny car which was supposed to run down a nylon line stretched between two nails driven into the asphalt. We would put one nail in the street and tie the line to it and slide the car down it with one of the neighbor kids holding the free end. Fired it up and let it get going straight then he let go of the line and it would hammer off down the street!
I had one! a race car that one would turn a knob at end of motor to start. Dad had no tether and that thing ran fast and out of sight. I was about 4 years old!! it had a steering wheel and tubes hooked up for vacuum I'm sure to turn wheels. Good times. Thanks for a run down memory lane!!
I had COX airplanes, and Aurora slot cars! Also rebuilt old bicycles! If I wasn't playing with those things, I was walking along side the LIRR tracks collecting praying mantis egg cases. I must hatched a million mantis in my back yard. I even had one trained to eat raw burger meat off a toothpick. Id go fishing at the pond in Old Westbury and bring the fish home to put them in a pond i made in the yard. I never ran out of crazy stuff to do!
I never saw the tether cars but I had read about them. I liked the balsa wood planes with rubber bands. I think they were about 10 maybe 25cents. Could play with then and glue them back together lots of times. Hot wheels and plastic models. I also love books. Now of course old tools. Stay safe and healthy my friend. Thanks
I remember the Sprite car. One of my best friends saved Sprite bottle caps to send off to cover part of the expense. I also remember the Shrike and other Cox products,,, wish I still had some of those toys. I do still have the Cox free flight helicopter (it was a .020 engine) and the Matel Vertibird.
I never got into the cars. I had 12 or so of the planes. Was and still am into shooting sports. Started with a bb then went to a 22, and so on. Served me well as I ended up as a sniper in the military. Still love shooting to this day. And you are correct. Working on the motors of those helped me as I do most of the maintenance on our vehicles. Between that and mustie1 got it covered!😬😂
Great stuff! I had the Cox red dune buggy and we had a modified top fuel tether car. Those Cox engines were always a bear to start. Yup, I remember those Everready dry cell batteries, glow plugs and fuel everywhere. I also had a Verti-bird. I played with that thing all day long. Amazing you have all those cool toys. Fun days gone by.
I was always into slot cars . I have a fantastic slot car layout even today . LOVE your stuff. Ive done everything a guy can do throughout life ... This aint no dress rehearsal !!!!
I got a Sprite Indy car like that with 300 sprite bottle caps. I helped a local grocery store owner cleaning up on the weekends. I would empty the bottle caps out of the drink coolers. My car did not have the Cox motor, it had the Macoy. I started it up a few times and tried to run it with the string. The car kelp breaking the body mounts, I glued it back together many times, each time the car just broke at another point.
I remember seeing these in stores, but was too far away from a place where there would be tracks for them - never knew there was such a thing. The closest thing we had was a few radio controlled airplane hobbyists used to fly the planes in a field down the road. Thankfully I grew up with a rifle and a fishing pole. To this day i do not believe I could name 5 sports teams if I had to. When not doing that I was walking the RR tracks looking for insulators!
I loved hobby shops and still do . Almost every town in North Jersey had a shop but there pretty much all gone.😢. I was into O gage Lionel trains and still have my original set my parents bought me. Use to love and go to a department store called Two Guys which always had a ton of trains on display. Great stuff. Thanks
One Christmas decades ago I received a tether car for Christmas. It was a red Corvette, with the the motor and accessories you described. My dad and I ran it, it was very fast!
As soon as I saw the Testors box my heart jumped! I had that exact kit! The noise of the engine and the smell of the fuel came rushing back.Fun times indeed,thanks for bringing back those wonderful memories! :)
I still have my collection of Barbie Dolls. But I remember something that was around the house that must have been handed down. I never knew what it was until your video today. It was one of those tether cars you mentioned. But it must have been from the 1950s and was metal. It looked like a Indy 500 racer from the 1950's and had one of those little gas engines you showed. I never knew how it could be used because I'd never had heard of those circular tracks. But now I do know. Thanks.
Pretty cool Bud!! I never had a Tether, I had a purple COX Dune Buggy!! I also built dozens of Guillows Balsa Wood Planes but never flew them, just hung then from the ceiling!!☺
I have one...its apart but has original shipping box,battery clip,glow plug wrench and tether ....these were made by Testors and were used as a give away from Sprite during a sponsorship of an indycar...they had a bottle cap saving program...
That was part of the problem with some of that stuff, you always wanted to push it farther or removed the tether and next thing you know it's smashed to pieces......Flying a line controlled plane in circle got old fast and you tried to make it do doomed maneuvers. I think I enjoyed Frisbees, Boomerangs, Bikes and Kites more, they were more trouble free and you got to be more active. Last thing I was interested in as a kid was eating, nothing worse than when your friend got called in to eat and you had to stop the game of whatever you were playing until they got back........The end of the day was painful when you started hearing parents yelling out across the neighborhood telling kids it was time to come home for the night.
Right On John! 👍🏼 Oh man I feel like I used to live at the hobby store! In Chester NJ, Pets Pets Pets - Hobby and Game. A great store. Got into everything, planes, rockets, cars! That tether car there is awesome!! 😳🤩🤯😃
I've never heard of tether cars. So cool. I did slots as a kid and we would win little plaques of we won. Autohobby was the place to be on a Thursday. Awesome Scout
I have been building model rockets since I was 10. never stopped, now im level 3 certified and can fly them as high as I want! I had one gas powered car and loved it! Forgot about it tillI saw this!! We would get along great! thanks. Jer
The 1971 tether car is as old as me lol. I didn't have them growing up. I was into model cars. I remember putting the cars together sometimes it take a few day to complete it then after I put it together I'd put my army men in them and put firecrackers in them lol!!!
Hey John. Sure, I had lots of hobbies. I'm a bit older than you so we had slot cars. My grandsons have drones. Every generation has something cooler than the last and each generation loves their stuff. It's really a good system. Still, mine were the good ole days. What a wonderful world Lum (are you old enough to know what I just said?
That looks like such a cool hobby I had early radio control cars heaps of fun I till the battery ran out ha ha then it was back on the charger great times brings back some memories that’s for sure great video God bless take care 🇳🇿🇺🇸🤟👌🏻🪓🛠
Absolutely. We had the Estes model rockets and I built plenty of small balsa wood plane models. These had a rubber band and you covered it with tissue paper paper and model dope and then paint. Building those balsa kits kept you busy for hours and hours at night after homework. We made model cars by Revell. We heated the frames that the plastic parts came on and built roll cages. HO scale race cars and tracks by Aurora.
WOW I had that EXACT SPIRT Formula One Car. My uncle worked for a Super Market Chain and was given the Car fully decaled. He had daughters and no sons and they had no interests in the car. He brought it to me and gave the Car to me....I had it for years until we were forced to move and sadly it went missing along with many other toys I had as a young kid back in 1970's. Thank you for showing this! Thank you for making video's I enjoy your channel each time you upload a new video. Really enjoy all the fun things you show! GI Joe! Toy Trains! MATCHBOX! HOT WHEELS! Model Cars, RADIOS! RADIOS! TUBE RADIOS! ..>gee I still love old Tube Radios! Still buy and restore and have a ball! Thanks ScoutCrafter so much for the fun videos!
Great video! Love the old tether cars. I have the Cox dragster and funny cars in very good condition and a testors sprite car in the box just like yours new old stock actually have three of them. Kids these days just don't know how cool the old toys where back in the day. I do run one of my Indy cars For my grandson he just loves it they are just so cool. Thanks for sharing👍👍👍
Yes I did. I was into track cars with controllers, battery operated. Businesses would have these indoors tracks setup and you would pay to enter races. If you were the winner you could win up several hundred dollars. All the small towns had race centers. We would go every Saturday and race. I remember winning 600 Dollars one time. It was like Stock Car Racing for kids. It was big in the 60's and 70's. Not just kids, older guys was into it. Stay safe my friend.
What a very awesome episode! Those cars are so neat. I love too build models of tanks from Tamiya. Wow 3 dollars and 25 cents. I don't think you can even get around the block with that anymore lol. Thanks Scout hope you and everyone have a great weekend. Be safe out there
The Cox dune buggies and the Testors VW bug tether car were my personal favorites of the genre. After seizing the original Testrors 049 engine, I modified my bug to use a Cox 051 power plant. The 051 was really just a bigger bore unit but it had more cylinder fins and there was an aluminum heat sink that could be attached to reduce or eliminate piston seizing. A friend had the Pinto funny car from Cox. That inline string guide system was not the most reliable toy for a bunch of young kids...LOL
This episode was right up my street I was born in 71 and my dad would tell me about the plane's in the little glow plug engine always wanted one but never got one
Wow. Did I ever have some Cox toys, when I was a kid. I had that P-40 Warhawk I saw in the background. Crashed it. Then my folks got me a Stuka which would drop a bomb. Never had so much fun getting dizzy.
I went to the hobby shops as often as I could and still do. Whatever hobby you chose you always learned something from it. Something that is a little lost today.
Very nice collection. I noticed some of your military surplus in this video. How about digging out “All” of you military surplus and your USMC gear and doing a video and stories on your gear?
I played tether ball. I once tied a dart to a string, with the other end tied to a tree. Wanted to see what would happen when I through it. Yup, it came around into my back. Luckily the dart wasn't too sharp, just like me. You do crazy things when you're bored.
After watching this video, I had to search for videos on tether cars. Didn't know Testors had tether cars either! I only remember Testors as the high end model kit company back in the 1980s. When they started selling their Model Master lines, to compete with the imports of Tamiya Paints. Testor kits were much better than Monogram or Revell kits during the 1980s.
My friend, David, had that car, but in yellow. I just remember it was SUPER LOUD. I was never a model plane guy. GI Joes, plastic army men, Hot Wheels, and drawing. That was my jam. Nice video. I'm sure you were a great scout master.
I had a Cox "trainer" aircraft (yellow and blue). The thing that always amazed me was that it didn't actually get destroyed the number of times I crashed it. A couple of rubber bands, maybe a bit of glue and it was good to go for another nosedive. lol I also remember how hard that prop would hit my finger if I didn't get it out of the way fast enough. Ouch! Thanks for bringing out the memories!
You have some amazing hobby equipment there. I loved the tether cars. I used to get dizzy with them. My favorite was making model rockets and putting different sized engines in them and trying to make two and three stage versions. I used to go to Grant Park to launch them. Can't tell you how many I lost over Lake Shore Drive into Lake Michigan, but it was the largest field I could get to on my bike. Memories. Thanks.
Never heard of tether cars until I started watching American Pickers. I do remember one of my older cousins having a line controlled plane. At the end of 1968 my uncle’s family moved in next door to us. Our house and Uncle Art’s house were new, built on lots that had been part of my grandparent’s farm, and built by my grandfather and his two sons. Uncle Art’s hobby was antique cars. Soon after that my hobby was building the metal antique car models. The parts had to be filed to remove the excess metal where the halves of the mold met. Then the parts were painted and the metal parts were screwed together and the plastic parts glued in place. Mine were okay. My cousin Tom’s like AACA award winning restorations.
I grew up with model aircraft - mainly kits - which I continued with into adulthood; then radio control model boats, kits and scratchbuilt. I toyed with RC gliders, but spent more time repairing than flying 😂 That Testors race car is cool - but you'll never run it, right 😄👍🏻
I remember chopping down dead trees and using chainsaws and off-bearing at the sawmill where my buddies lived and worked. In 71 I was on my free expenses paid tropical vacation that I got malaria as an added bonus. Then it was mowers and saws and such and BURNING DIESEL! Still that way. Might grow older but never grow up. The 1st childhood is a fine place to stay. Thanks, John CS! Happy weekend, Buddy!
Hobby shops are the BEST!! Radio control cars and stuff has been my main hobby obsession for as long as I can remember. So much fun, Sooo expensive... My $200 traxxas rustler has $1000 into it... But man is it FAST! Great trip down memory lane! Thanks ScoutCrafter!
My older brother still has his tether car from the 30's. I still have my Cox Mini Stunt plane. It had the smaller .020 Pee Wee engine. Barely a foot long and wide you could fly it in a 15ft circle. The best is the smell! Castor oil, alcohol, and high revs. Great fun.
My two cousins had r c airplanes with those little engines. I spent more time watching them try to get, and keep them running than actually ever seeing any of them fly. They were constantly running out of this part or that part and fuel, or they'd be making endless adjustments to pieces-parts. Maybe they should have spent their time and money on the land based cars! The garage floor at my Uncle and Aunt's house was a series of puddles and stains from the fuel they sprinkled around all the time. I'll never forget that smell. Those little engines made the coolest sound during all the start up attempts. Thanks for bringing back those memories.
Very cool memories there. I never had a Cox car but I lusted after that Jeep. The boy in PA that got the Sprite car(beautiful NOS example by the by)might have had the trouble a friend of mine had with the Cox funny car he had but could hardly use because there just wasn't a place to do it here. I think he got to once on a little airstrip his dad took him to. Sadly the funny car, still like new, didn't make it through his kids too. Tha is again for the memories.
I just bought one of the Testers car same as yours NOS how cool. I wish I was back in the late 60's was 8 years old and yes America was great things where great now its woke joke nonsense nice video brings back memories of toy stores hobby shops and all the cool stuff we did
Thanks for the memories In the late 69's early 70's we had SST cars which had one large wheel down the middle. You would insert a T shaped strip into the gear and quickly pull it out get them going up tampa, racing, enjoy c! Fun times. Great video!
I remember the SST cars also, I remember trying to make them go faster by oiling the bearings and removing the little clicker thing to reduce friction. Those were hours of fun.
Wow John that was cool I thought I was the only one he kept all my cars and the boxes and still have them today :-) Super cool video John once again thank you so much for sharing as always😀👍🇺🇸
Very cool S.C... I had a airplane (P-51 Mustang) that I got for Christmas but i didn't know how to fly it.. My dad had a friend to come over to teach me how to fly it.. moral of the story : He crashed my plane, broke the wing and i don't ever remember seeing it fly again.. What is it that makes the Cox fuel smell so bad.. You remember that smell for the rest of your life.. great video...
Wow, you really put a smile on my face with that video, oh how I loved that stuff, didn’t have the cars but I do know some people who had them and saw them run but I had a couple of those cox control line planes for sure with those same engines and what memories I have of those great days and yes also remember those local hobby shops that were so fascinating also, I wanted everything when I went there, gee I don’t understand how anybody couldn’t love this stuff today also, thanks for making my day today John.
Slot racing in the basement of my uncle’s gas station, and model railroading. I could really relate to the “daydreaming at school” part. My, and my parents budget could of course not keep up with my imagination, but that was OK - no one had money then and I don’t recall anyone complaining about it if they had a job. Good old days.
I got one of those tether planes for Christmas one year. That was a blast. When I crashed my Dad would have to bend the wings back in place by warming the plastic up with a lighter. Then back up in the air. And I forgot about those little helicopters. I loved those. You're right... simpler days for sure.
I had the Cox dragster and my Dad had the Cox P-40 airplane with the Flying Tigers, decals. I have that SK set also. I'm missing the SK ratchet but I have that exact same Craftsman ratchet in that kit. 👍😎🤠🇺🇸
I am 81 years old. I have a basement full of planes and motors. I have been in the hobby since I was around 7 years old. I was around during the ignition era before the glow plug came out. I started building and flying control line when I was 10. I started flying R/C competition aerobatics in 1970 and flew that until 94. Then I began flying Old TIme control line stunt, and some old free flights with a radio. I have a nice collection of old spark engines from the 40's. Ohlssons, Super Cyclones, Atwood Super Champions, Anderson Spitfires, Forsters, and an Orwick 64.
It was this hobby that gave me the desire to learn how things work and stick to it until they did. It helped me greatly in my job as a trouble shooter for a petroleum pipeline. It kept us busy as kids to keep us out of trouble. We layed in bed at night dreaming about the things we were going to build or fly the next day.
We sat in school reading model magazines instead of doing our assignments. Much of our time was just staring out the window dreaming about our next model.
We did not mind if it took a couple of months to build a model. It was part of the journey to the flying.
Well, enough of my rambling. Oh, and motorcycles have been another hobby. Rode a friends Whizzer Pacemaker motor bike when I was 8. Bought my first Harley in 1955 when I was 14. A 1942 "45" flat head. I still ride some on my 99 Harley Softail Custom.
Thanks for the video that brought back so many memories. We are the most blessed generation.
I was born in 76(bicentennial baby). I feel like I was at the tail end of the hobby era. I remember going to multiple hobby shops where we lived and every one was run by an old man who seemed very happy to see a young person in the shop. All those places are now long gone. There are a couple hobby shops still around, but they are huge by comparison and they sell a little bit of everything to stay open. In my youth I built mostly mostly model airplanes (plastic and rubber powered stick n tissue). I made many rubber powered airplanes of my own designs (most of which I still have and do fly with my kids on occasion). I also built a fair number of model rockets. We had a rocket and glider club in middle school. I also had a sweet RC car (Kyosho Javelin). It was a kit that you had to build. I learned a lot from building, maintaining, and upgrading that car. I still have it, and it was re-released for production so you can still buy a new one! All that hobby stuff occured in parallel with my tinkering. I always liked large trash day when you could put big junk out for the garbage men to collect. I would always head out with my wagon and a few tools and come home with one or more whole appliances to take apart, and all the interesting bits I could remove with the tools. I still have a bag full of vacuum tubes I collected from things back then. You can learn a lot by taking things apart to see how they work! I started tinkering with bicycles, then go-carts, then dirtbikes, then a dunebuggy, then a musclecar. Sadly I never progressed to an airplane and spaceship! 🤔
James- You are like me, born late but still love the vintage stuff... 😃👍
Me and my brothers did slot cars and u-control airplanes. I still built and flew them when I joined the Navy. I remember at NAS Millington, Tn building an F-7F Tigercat with two Cox .049s I got off crashed airplanes the other guys threw away! Got me a picture in the base paper. Good times.
John, you brought back so many memories of going into the hobby shop, particularly with dad after your birthday with money that granny plus aunts / uncles had sent. You would know exactly what you wanted and you felt like a millionaire. Thank you for transporting me back 50 years and a time when you did not get your first pair of long trousers until you went to Senior School, summers were always better and things seemed a lot more innocent.
Tony- I miss hobby shops!!! 😃👍
My brother and I both had Corvettes his was black mine was red. Got mine going in a circle on our small patio it was going so fast you could not see it. 1970 fun times, no cell phones or computers and I could walk down the street with my pellet/BB gun no problems 😊
I remember me and my buddies had the cars and planes we would race. I had the airplanes. Received many cuts on fingers starting the planes up. Man those were some good times. Thanks SC, I forgot all about the tether models.
Really simpler times. I was finishing high-school. I was interested in Märklin HO model trains and always tweaking my bicycle. Good trip to memory lane. Thanks.
Great video! Reminds me of my days as a Cub Scout racing Pinewood derby cars! Have a great weekend! 😃👍
Good time back in those days. I still have my slot car and controller. We would put spearmint oil on our tires to make them tacky. I did the air plane , of coarse with string and end up dizzy 🥴. Skate boards made from a old roller skate. Yes it was good times. Thanks John for the memory’s
My favorite hobby was building any type of plastic models, from cars to planes, ships, motorcycles. Then to movie monsters like Frankenstein, the Werewolf, the mummy, and Dracula.
Then I shifted my attention to model rocketry. I built all manner of Estes kits.
At that time no solid fuel engines were available in hobby shops in Pennsylvania. You had to send to Colorado for them. Also big in my area was 1:24 slot cars. There were four or five commercial tracks in the area. Depending how much money you had they offered several tracks. The less expensive per half hour were just ovals. The more expensive were 35° banks, underpasses, and long straight aways.
They also offered a two lane dragstrip, with lights and timers. I got so involved that I would rewind the motors to increase their speed. The wire was as thin as a hair, and you had to be careful to wind the wire the exact number of turns around each pole of the armature. I never got into model railroading. That can get expensive.
When I got tired of the plastic cars they were soaked in charcoal lighter fluid, and rolled down a long hill with a lit firecracker on board. In the collectors world the cardboard boxes with the color graphics are worth a ton. Who knew?
The first part of the video i can totally relate, all i did in school was daydream about my hobbies and what i wanted to do next. Honestly, the tinkering hobby is way more educational than school will ever be. I mean not many kids were good at solving normal school problems, but give them some frames and wheels and you'll be surprised by the engineering they come up with.
Awesome! Wish kids had wholesome hobbies like they used to.
Great video, thank you!
Growing up we had several Cox tether planes and I loved them! But times were changing and RC was getting really big.
I had Star Trek verti-bird and had hours of fun with that. But honestly there were two toys that I really cherished.....one was my Aurora/AFX slot cars and track, the other was the Evel Knievel stunt cycle. Great memories! Thanks again!
thanks for the great glance back to happy days, all the best, kind regards, Clive
I was 10 Christmas of 1971 when my older brother got a Cox Dune Buggy for Christmas. My dad the biggest kid of us all (there were 6 kids at that point) fired it up in the family room and we jammed our fingers in our ears grinning while he threw it out the back door to bounce through the snow in the backyard. Dad had the biggest grin of all--mom not so much. She was not amused that the family room smelled like hot castor oil!
That was one of many Cox cars and planes to pass through the house. Later we had the Vega or Pinto funny car which was supposed to run down a nylon line stretched between two nails driven into the asphalt. We would put one nail in the street and tie the line to it and slide the car down it with one of the neighbor kids holding the free end. Fired it up and let it get going straight then he let go of the line and it would hammer off down the street!
I had one! a race car that one would turn a knob at end of motor to start. Dad had no tether and that thing ran fast and out of sight. I was about 4 years old!! it had a steering wheel and tubes hooked up for vacuum I'm sure to turn wheels. Good times. Thanks for a run down memory lane!!
I had that exact same Testor's tether car in 1970. But my main hobby was model rockets. Thanks for the memories!
Wow this video really spoke to me, what a awesome hobby to have! Very very cool! Thank you for sharing!
I had COX airplanes, and Aurora slot cars! Also rebuilt old bicycles! If I wasn't playing with those things, I was walking along side the LIRR tracks collecting praying mantis egg cases. I must hatched a million mantis in my back yard. I even had one trained to eat raw burger meat off a toothpick. Id go fishing at the pond in Old Westbury and bring the fish home to put them in a pond i made in the yard. I never ran out of crazy stuff to do!
Another great and nostalgic post.
Thank you.
Tony
I never saw the tether cars but I had read about them. I liked the balsa wood planes with rubber bands. I think they were about 10 maybe 25cents. Could play with then and glue them back together lots of times. Hot wheels and plastic models. I also love books. Now of course old tools. Stay safe and healthy my friend. Thanks
Outstanding. I want your Topflite P40! I got Planes Running out my ears!!!!!
I remember the Sprite car. One of my best friends saved Sprite bottle caps to send off to cover part of the expense. I also remember the Shrike and other Cox products,,, wish I still had some of those toys. I do still have the Cox free flight helicopter (it was a .020 engine) and the Matel Vertibird.
I never got into the cars. I had 12 or so of the planes.
Was and still am into shooting sports. Started with a bb then went to a 22, and so on. Served me well as I ended up as a sniper in the military. Still love shooting to this day.
And you are correct. Working on the motors of those helped me as I do most of the maintenance on our vehicles. Between that and mustie1 got it covered!😬😂
David Helmuth Love mustie1. I had a '64 beetle convertible. Brings back lots of memories.
Great memories . Sad that the old hobby shops are going away.
John , awesome , could you one day do a video on your military collection from the marines
Jorge Rodriguez maybe after the statute of limitation has run..lol
Great stuff! I had the Cox red dune buggy and we had a modified top fuel tether car. Those Cox engines were always a bear to start. Yup, I remember those Everready dry cell batteries, glow plugs and fuel everywhere. I also had a Verti-bird. I played with that thing all day long. Amazing you have all those cool toys. Fun days gone by.
I was always into slot cars . I have a fantastic slot car layout even today . LOVE your stuff. Ive done everything a guy can do throughout life ... This aint no dress rehearsal !!!!
I got a Sprite Indy car like that with 300 sprite bottle caps. I helped a local grocery store owner cleaning up on the weekends. I would empty the bottle caps out of the drink coolers.
My car did not have the Cox motor, it had the Macoy. I started it up a few times and tried to run it with the string. The car kelp breaking the body mounts, I glued it back together many times, each time the car just broke at another point.
I remember seeing these in stores, but was too far away from a place where there would be tracks for them - never knew there was such a thing. The closest thing we had was a few radio controlled airplane hobbyists used to fly the planes in a field down the road. Thankfully I grew up with a rifle and a fishing pole. To this day i do not believe I could name 5 sports teams if I had to. When not doing that I was walking the RR tracks looking for insulators!
I loved hobby shops and still do . Almost every town in North Jersey had a shop but there pretty much all gone.😢. I was into O gage Lionel trains and still have my original set my parents bought me. Use to love and go to a department store called Two Guys which always had a ton of trains on display. Great stuff. Thanks
One Christmas decades ago I received a tether car for Christmas. It was a red Corvette, with the the motor and accessories you described. My dad and I ran it, it was very fast!
I have those, thanks for sharing.
Thanks for saving all this stuff.
People still fly those balsa airplanes with rubber bands.
As soon as I saw the Testors box my heart jumped! I had that exact kit! The noise of the engine and the smell of the fuel came rushing back.Fun times indeed,thanks for bringing back those wonderful memories! :)
I still have my collection of Barbie Dolls. But I remember something that was around the house that must have been handed down. I never knew what it was until your video today. It was one of those tether cars you mentioned. But it must have been from the 1950s and was metal. It looked like a Indy 500 racer from the 1950's and had one of those little gas engines you showed. I never knew how it could be used because I'd never had heard of those circular tracks. But now I do know. Thanks.
Kathie those early Cast Aluminum Cars are the best!
That stuff was cool! I miss a good hobby shop. In the sticks where I live the farmer's co op is the hobby shop, livestock auctions are the pet shops.
How cool. I had that same "copter" when i was a kid....best toy ever. Great stuff! Cheers
Pretty cool Bud!! I never had a Tether, I had a purple COX Dune Buggy!! I also built dozens of Guillows Balsa Wood Planes but never flew them, just hung then from the ceiling!!☺
..good one, have a great weekend..
I have one...its apart but has original shipping box,battery clip,glow plug wrench and tether ....these were made by Testors
and were used as a give away from Sprite during a sponsorship of an indycar...they had a bottle cap saving program...
That was part of the problem with some of that stuff, you always wanted to push it farther or removed the tether and next thing you know it's smashed to pieces......Flying a line controlled plane in circle got old fast and you tried to make it do doomed maneuvers.
I think I enjoyed Frisbees, Boomerangs, Bikes and Kites more, they were more trouble free and you got to be more active.
Last thing I was interested in as a kid was eating, nothing worse than when your friend got called in to eat and you had to stop the game of whatever you were playing until they got back........The end of the day was painful when you started hearing parents yelling out across the neighborhood telling kids it was time to come home for the night.
LOL- Now the kids have cell phones! 😂
We had to come home when the street lights came on.
Right On John! 👍🏼 Oh man I feel like I used to live at the hobby store! In Chester NJ, Pets Pets Pets - Hobby and Game. A great store. Got into everything, planes, rockets, cars! That tether car there is awesome!! 😳🤩🤯😃
I've never heard of tether cars. So cool. I did slots as a kid and we would win little plaques of we won. Autohobby was the place to be on a Thursday. Awesome Scout
I have been building model rockets since I was 10. never stopped, now im level 3 certified and can fly them as high as I want! I had one gas powered car and loved it! Forgot about it tillI saw this!! We would get along great!
thanks.
Jer
The 1971 tether car is as old as me lol. I didn't have them growing up. I was into model cars. I remember putting the cars together sometimes it take a few day to complete it then after I put it together I'd put my army men in them and put firecrackers in them lol!!!
I was born in 1970 .... These were very special times to grow up.... These are great constructive hobbies...
I'm 24 and I my grandmother just handed one down to me. Big or small, I like older cars. So much so that I drive an '84 Pontiac Fiero as well.
Hey John. Sure, I had lots of hobbies. I'm a bit older than you so we had slot cars. My grandsons have drones. Every generation has something cooler than the last and each generation loves their stuff. It's really a good system. Still, mine were the good ole days. What a wonderful world Lum (are you old enough to know what I just said?
That looks like such a cool hobby I had early radio control cars heaps of fun I till the battery ran out ha ha then it was back on the charger great times brings back some memories that’s for sure great video
God bless take care 🇳🇿🇺🇸🤟👌🏻🪓🛠
Absolutely. We had the Estes model rockets and I built plenty of small balsa wood plane models. These had a rubber band and you covered it with tissue paper paper and model dope and then paint. Building those balsa kits kept you busy for hours and hours at night after homework. We made model cars by Revell. We heated the frames that the plastic parts came on and built roll cages. HO scale race cars and tracks by Aurora.
WOW I had that EXACT SPIRT Formula One Car. My uncle worked for a Super Market Chain and was given the Car fully decaled. He had daughters and no sons and they had no interests in the car. He brought it to me and gave the Car to me....I had it for years until we were forced to move and sadly it went missing along with many other toys I had as a young kid back in 1970's. Thank you for showing this! Thank you for making video's I enjoy your channel each time you upload a new video. Really enjoy all the fun things you show! GI Joe! Toy Trains! MATCHBOX! HOT WHEELS! Model Cars, RADIOS! RADIOS! TUBE RADIOS! ..>gee I still love old Tube Radios! Still buy and restore and have a ball! Thanks ScoutCrafter so much for the fun videos!
My brother from another Mother! 😃👍
Great video! Love the old tether cars. I have the Cox dragster and funny cars in very good condition and a testors sprite car in the box just like yours new old stock actually have three of them. Kids these days just don't know how cool the old toys where back in the day.
I do run one of my Indy cars
For my grandson he just loves it they are just so cool.
Thanks for sharing👍👍👍
Yes I did. I was into track cars with controllers, battery operated. Businesses would have these indoors tracks setup and you would pay to enter races. If you were the winner you could win up several hundred dollars. All the small towns had race centers. We would go every Saturday and race. I remember winning 600 Dollars one time. It was like Stock Car Racing for kids. It was big in the 60's and 70's. Not just kids, older guys was into it. Stay safe my friend.
Very interesting, I've not seen those Tether car before 👍👍
Love the old back in the Day Hobby shops .... model builder all my life
What a very awesome episode! Those cars are so neat. I love too build models of tanks from Tamiya. Wow 3 dollars and 25 cents. I don't think you can even get around the block with that anymore lol. Thanks Scout hope you and everyone have a great weekend. Be safe out there
You did it Big Daddy......The meter's at 20k........Congratulations!
The Cox dune buggies and the Testors VW bug tether car were my personal favorites of the genre. After seizing the original Testrors 049 engine, I modified my bug to use a Cox 051 power plant. The 051 was really just a bigger bore unit but it had more cylinder fins and there was an aluminum heat sink that could be attached to reduce or eliminate piston seizing.
A friend had the Pinto funny car from Cox. That inline string guide system was not the most reliable toy for a bunch of young kids...LOL
My dad and I could never pass by a hobby shop without going inside! I grew up with exacto knives and balsa wood....🇺🇸🎸🧰🔭🧯🛶👍🏻
This episode was right up my street I was born in 71 and my dad would tell me about the plane's in the little glow plug engine always wanted one but never got one
Wow. Did I ever have some Cox toys, when I was a kid. I had that P-40 Warhawk I saw in the background. Crashed it. Then my folks got me a Stuka which would drop a bomb. Never had so much fun getting dizzy.
Wow you really do have so much cool stuff. My dad and I would fly a kites as kid some really nice memories.
Tom- I have such awesome kites still... love that hobby!
Nice collection mate love that white car you luck bugger to have that sweet🤙🤙🤙
I went to the hobby shops as often as I could and still do. Whatever hobby you chose you always learned something from it. Something that is a little lost today.
Very nice collection. I noticed some of your military surplus in this video. How about digging out “All” of you military surplus and your USMC gear and doing a video and stories on your gear?
I played tether ball. I once tied a dart to a string, with the other end tied to a tree. Wanted to see what would happen when I through it. Yup, it came around into my back. Luckily the dart wasn't too sharp, just like me. You do crazy things when you're bored.
Reminds me of a joke. 1st guy: What do you think of Flushing N.Y? 2nd guy: I think it's a great idea. ba dap boom!
😂😂😂👍
After watching this video, I had to search for videos on tether cars.
Didn't know Testors had tether cars either! I only remember Testors as the high end model kit company back in the 1980s. When they started selling their Model Master lines, to compete with the imports of Tamiya Paints. Testor kits were much better than Monogram or Revell kits during the 1980s.
The good old days thanks for taking me back
Don't recall tether cars in the UK - we had tether planes though - "bricks on strings"
My friend, David, had that car, but in yellow. I just remember it was SUPER LOUD.
I was never a model plane guy. GI Joes, plastic army men, Hot Wheels, and drawing. That was my jam.
Nice video. I'm sure you were a great scout master.
Ben- I never wanted to grow up! 😃
Ben Mall GO JOE!!!! Real GIJoe 12” action figures rule!!👍
Nice video. I still have my Cox Mercedes W196 racing car. I always wanted the 30's/40's Dooling cars but never got one. Thanks!
I had a Cox "trainer" aircraft (yellow and blue). The thing that always amazed me was that it didn't actually get destroyed the number of times I crashed it. A couple of rubber bands, maybe a bit of glue and it was good to go for another nosedive. lol I also remember how hard that prop would hit my finger if I didn't get it out of the way fast enough. Ouch! Thanks for bringing out the memories!
You have some amazing hobby equipment there. I loved the tether cars. I used to get dizzy with them. My favorite was making model rockets and putting different sized engines in them and trying to make two and three stage versions. I used to go to Grant Park to launch them. Can't tell you how many I lost over Lake Shore Drive into Lake Michigan, but it was the largest field I could get to on my bike. Memories. Thanks.
Have to admit that I’m a little disappointed that you didn’t get one of those cars running. Those little engines have a unique sound.
Never heard of tether cars until I started watching American Pickers. I do remember one of my older cousins having a line controlled plane. At the end of 1968 my uncle’s family moved in next door to us. Our house and Uncle Art’s house were new, built on lots that had been part of my grandparent’s farm, and built by my grandfather and his two sons. Uncle Art’s hobby was antique cars. Soon after that my hobby was building the metal antique car models. The parts had to be filed to remove the excess metal where the halves of the mold met. Then the parts were painted and the metal parts were screwed together and the plastic parts glued in place. Mine were okay. My cousin Tom’s like AACA award winning restorations.
I grew up with model aircraft - mainly kits - which I continued with into adulthood; then radio control model boats, kits and scratchbuilt. I toyed with RC gliders, but spent more time repairing than flying 😂
That Testors race car is cool - but you'll never run it, right 😄👍🏻
Armando- I would run it but only on a nice track! 😃👍
I remember chopping down dead trees and using chainsaws and off-bearing at the sawmill where my buddies lived and worked. In 71 I was on my free expenses paid tropical vacation that I got malaria as an added bonus. Then it was mowers and saws and such and BURNING DIESEL! Still that way. Might grow older but never grow up. The 1st childhood is a fine place to stay. Thanks, John CS! Happy weekend, Buddy!
Hobby shops are the BEST!! Radio control cars and stuff has been my main hobby obsession for as long as I can remember. So much fun, Sooo expensive... My $200 traxxas rustler has $1000 into it... But man is it FAST! Great trip down memory lane! Thanks ScoutCrafter!
T-Wrecks- My Buddy used to race RC Cars and said it cost a fortune! 😃👍
Brought back some good memories 😃
My older brother still has his tether car from the 30's. I still have my Cox Mini Stunt plane. It had the smaller .020 Pee Wee engine. Barely a foot long and wide you could fly it in a 15ft circle. The best is the smell! Castor oil, alcohol, and high revs. Great fun.
Great segment! I love that type of stuff myself - it’s awesome you kept all that too (that’s stuffs worth a lot of money I’m sure).
Loved the hobbies. Fun times as kids. You have some great memento's from the past. Thanks for sharing John.
My two cousins had r c airplanes with those little engines. I spent more time watching them try to get, and keep them running than actually ever seeing any of them fly. They were constantly running out of this part or that part and fuel, or they'd be making endless adjustments to pieces-parts. Maybe they should have spent their time and money on the land based cars! The garage floor at my Uncle and Aunt's house was a series of puddles and stains from the fuel they sprinkled around all the time. I'll never forget that smell. Those little engines made the coolest sound during all the start up attempts. Thanks for bringing back those memories.
Very cool memories there. I never had a Cox car but I lusted after that Jeep. The boy in PA that got the Sprite car(beautiful NOS example by the by)might have had the trouble a friend of mine had with the Cox funny car he had but could hardly use because there just wasn't a place to do it here. I think he got to once on a little airstrip his dad took him to. Sadly the funny car, still like new, didn't make it through his kids too. Tha is again for the memories.
Hey hey! Congratulations on 20 K! I came here to see if you’d made it and low and behold there it is. Awesome!
I just bought one of the Testers car same as yours NOS how cool. I wish I was back in the late 60's was 8 years old and yes America was great things where great now its woke joke nonsense nice video brings back memories of toy stores hobby shops and all the cool stuff we did
Slot Cars at Buzzarama on Church Ave in Brooklyn. Wow, good times.
Bill- Slot Cars were so much fun!
Thanks for the memories In the late 69's early 70's we had SST cars which had one large wheel down the middle. You would insert a T shaped strip into the gear and quickly pull it out get them going up tampa, racing, enjoy c! Fun times. Great video!
I have them!!! 😃👍.
I remember the SST cars also, I remember trying to make them go faster by oiling the bearings and removing the little clicker thing to reduce friction. Those were hours of fun.
Wow John that was cool
I thought I was the only one he kept all my cars and the boxes and still have them today :-)
Super cool video John once again thank you so much for sharing as always😀👍🇺🇸
You have an amazing collection and wealth of knowledge. Genuinely priceless. Thank you.
Ben- Those were great times!
Very cool S.C... I had a airplane (P-51 Mustang) that I got for Christmas but i didn't know how to fly it.. My dad had a friend to come over to teach me how to fly it.. moral of the story : He crashed my plane, broke the wing and i don't ever remember seeing it fly again.. What is it that makes the Cox fuel smell so bad.. You remember that smell for the rest of your life.. great video...
Wow, you really put a smile on my face with that video, oh how I loved that stuff, didn’t have the cars but I do know some people who had them and saw them run but I had a couple of those cox control line planes for sure with those same engines and what memories I have of those great days and yes also remember those local hobby shops that were so fascinating also, I wanted everything when I went there, gee I don’t understand how anybody couldn’t love this stuff today also, thanks for making my day today John.
I spent a lot of time as a kid building model cars. I remember riding my bike to the hobby shop with my friends.
Slot racing in the basement of my uncle’s gas station, and model railroading. I could really relate to the “daydreaming at school” part. My, and my parents budget could of course not keep up with my imagination, but that was OK - no one had money then and I don’t recall anyone complaining about it if they had a job. Good old days.
I got one of those tether planes for Christmas one year. That was a blast. When I crashed my Dad would have to bend the wings back in place by warming the plastic up with a lighter. Then back up in the air. And I forgot about those little helicopters. I loved those. You're right... simpler days for sure.
Kids today miss out on the "Golden age" of being a kid. 50's-70's
I had the Cox dragster and my Dad had the Cox P-40 airplane with the Flying Tigers, decals.
I have that SK set also. I'm missing the SK ratchet but I have that exact same Craftsman ratchet in that kit.
👍😎🤠🇺🇸
Always liked that dragster! 😃👍
I like these teather cars and tethervplanes they look fun
Always good John